A.—s
3
I.—GRIEVANCES— continued.
History. References. Bemarks. Education— continued. iucation — continued. There are 11,438 pupils in Govern- | Parliamentary Papers ment schools, ac a cose of £8 5s. lid. j C.-9345, pp. 70-74; per head ; 216 only are from the gold- ', C.-7933, p. 69. fields, at a cost of £12 12s. 8d. each. The State gymnasium at Pretoria costs £88 12s. 9d. for each pupil. The School of Mines at Pretoria costs £235 6s. Id. for each pupil. Parliamentary Papers G.-9345, pp. 70-74; 0.-7-933) p. 69. 3 j £230,000 voted this year. ; i Nearly all comes from Jo1 hannesburg, but only a frac- ; tion spent there. (See Volksraad Eeports.) £50,000 was voted in 1896 for "Oitlander education, but only a few hundreds were spent, owing to refusal of Government to allow English to be medium of education after the Third Standard. The Uitlanders, who are compelled to bear almost the entire cost of the State schools, are maintaining their own separate schools, with their own Superintendent of Education. Judicial (A.) Dependence of the High Court upon the The Volksraad and Executive Council Parliamentary Paper repeatedly attempted to influence the C.-9345, 1899, pp. 51, Courts by resolutions —■ in one case 210. actually throwing the plaintiff in a pending action against the Government out of Court. Finally, in February, 1897, in violation of the written Constitution, it was enacted that resolutions of the Volksraad should have the effect of law, and that their validity should not be subject to review by the Court. The Bench protested, and Chief Justice Kotze was dismissed. e Executive. Mr. Gregorowski, who was appointed Chief Justice vice Kotze, had declared when the law was passed that " no man of self-respect would remain on the bench of the Republic while this was the law." The unenfranchised population have thus lost their only safeguard against arbitrary or unconstitutional acts or resolutions. (B.) Bight to Trial by Jury of our Countrymen Only drawn from the ranks of the Parliamentary Paper burghers or naturalised aliens. They C.-7933, p. 67. are mostly ignorant of English, incompetent from want of training and knowledge, alien in sympathy to and having huge contempt for Uitlanders (especially Englishmen). The most serious crime is rampant, and perpetrators of serious crimes frequently escape punishment. The conduct and attitude of the police is only a reflection of the hostility and contempt of the Legislature and Government. This hostility has its natural result in setting up a corresponding antagonism on the part of Englishmen, who otherwise would be friendly enough with their Dutch neighbours. fury of our Countrymen Parliamentary Paper C.-7933, p. 67. denied. — Police. j Absence of Municipal Institutions. of Municipal Institutions Johannesburg remains without proper Parliamentary Papers municipal government. In September, C.-9345, 1892, pp. 65, 1897, as a great concession, it was 75-76; C.-7933, pp. created a municipality, with Burgo- 40, 90. master and Council. The real effect of this was materially to restrict the very limited powers of local self-govern-ment which the old " Sanitary Committee " possessed. Parliamentary Papers C.-9345, 1892, pp. 65, 75-76; 0.-7933, pp. 40, 90. The Burgomaster is a Government official; and of the Councillors half are elected by the burghers of the town, who coni stitute only 5 per cent, of the ratepayers. The hollow mockery of the municipality was exposed when a concession was granted bv the Government in Pretoria to E. Mendelssohn for a drainage scheme, and the first duty of the I municipality thus removed from ! its care.